Wednesday, May 7, 2014

7/5/2014: Eurocoin Leading Indicator: April 2014


The latest Eurocoin leading growth indicator for the euro area is at 0.39 in April, statistically unchanged on 0.38 in March.

Q1 2014 forecast based on Eurocoin is now at 0.34% q/q growth and Q2 2014 forecast is now running closer to 0.38%.

In other words, things are slack.

Here are some charts:




Crucially, Eurocoin reading in April was driven by "favourable performance of the financial markets and by household and business confidence, although these were counterbalanced by the small downwards revision of euro-area GDP in the fourth quarter of 2013." Actual industrial activity and external trade data was not supportive to the upside.

In other words, much of the improvement in Eurocoin since December 2013 is down to financial and confidence effects and not to underlying real economy.

Monetary policy side and inflation remain stuck in slow-growth corner:





No comments: